The present invention relates to a combined catheter and needle and more particularly to a combined catheter and needle which provides for the disposition of the needle in in a safe manner.
The currently available catheter and needle assembly consists of a needle mounted inside of the catheter sealed and sterile within a package. In the use of such an assembly, the latter is removed from the packaging and the tip of the needle is inserted into the blood vessel through the skin of the patient. When it is seen that a drop of blood comes out of the opposite end of the needle, the medical worker slides the tip of the catheter over the tip of the needle into the blood vessel.
While holding the catheter in place with one hand, the other hand is used to withdraw the needle. The needle has to be dropped in order to attach the I.V. tubing to the catheter. This is the time when most needle punctures occur. Even though hospitals and other institutions have attempted to reduce the risk by providing a disposal unit in each patients room, the distance from the patient to the unit mounted on a wall is not close enough to permit the medical worket to place the used needle in the container while the patient is being attended to.
In the procedure just described, the needle, tipped in the blood of the patient, must be handled until it is deposited in the disposal unit, with the risk of an accidental puncture of one of the health care workers. The risk is heightened in a crisis atmosphere where the patient is undergoing emergency treatment and the workers are concentrating on the rapid delivery of health care services and failing to take the time to observe the usual safety precautions.
From a practical point of view it is almost impossible to provide the disposal unit at every site where the catheter is or might be used. The only solution to this problem would be to improve such needle devices to incorporating safety features into their design.
In addition, once the needle along with a large number of other used and blood tipped needles are in the container, that container as well as others are handled by a succession of workers until final disposal takes place. Over a period of time there is an incidence, although low, of accidents resulting in accidental punctures. In view of the great risk of AIDS and other highly contagious diseases which are transmitted through the blood, the risk described above though low is still unacceptable.
A number of catheter and needle assemblies are shown in USP Nos. 3,094,122, 3,884,230, 4,311,137, 4,389,210, 4,496,348, 4,565,545, 4,588,398, 4,627,841, 4,629,450, and 4,728,322. None of the preceding patents discloses an arrangement for disposing of the needle automatically after the catheter is put in place.